What Causes Eye Floaters and What Can You Do About These Pesky Natural Substances in Your Eye?

What causes eye floaters? That thought probably goes through your mind every time one drifts randomly into your field of vision. The good news is that although floaters may be distracting, they're generally not harmful to your health.

We all have a natural jellylike material in our eyes called the vitreous humor. This material is situated behind the eye's lens and in front of the retina. When we are young, the vitreous humor has a gel-like consistency, but as we age, it begins to break down and bits of vitreous start to "float" behind the eye's lens. They may show up as random spots or blobs that are dark in color in your field of vision. You may only suffer from one pesky floater, or you may have hundreds of eye floaters, which causes some people to characterize their vision as having a cobweb appearance.

What you see when a "floater" appears in your field of vision is not the floater itself but the shadows of loose vitreous material that are picked up by your eye when one passes through to the retina. This shadow effect is what causes eye floaters to show up while you are under bright indoor lights, sunlight, or when you are in front of a computer screen.

Eye floaters have been linked to a variety of conditions including:

Like with most health problems, the best medicine may be preventive measures. Taking care of your body and eyes now may help you avoid or slow down the progression of conditions later. Along with taking care to cover your eyes in sunlight, you may also want to consult a professional about developing a diet plan geared toward ocular health.